Free Taruheru River guided walk in Gisborne this Saturday for families

A free guided tour by the Taruheru River starts from the Centre for Heritage, the former Plunket Society building at 173 Palmerston Rd, at 11am this Saturday.

Holidaymakers looking for something to do with family and friends the day after Boxing Day need look no further than Heritage Tairāwhiti’s free guided walk beside the Taruheru River this Saturday.

For the past six months, volunteer guides have been relating the stories of the river flowing through the city – its origin, use, resources, and the people who lived, traded and worked beside it.

Stories include those of early European settlers John Harris, Robert Espie, Thomas Halbert and George Read – all integral to the development of Tūranga and Gisborne.

Heritage Tairāwhiti chair Sheridan Gundry and fellow guides Marty Reynolds and Coralie Campbell-Whitehead have run the monthly tours since June, and people new to the stories of the river continue to attend.

“Our community has many descendants from these early personalities including the offspring of Halbert and his six wives – such as Kate Wyllie and her half-brother Wi Pere – of Harris and his sons Edward and Henry; Robert Espie; William King and William Wilkinson Smith," Gundry said.

Other personalities include George White, later known as Barnet Burns, the tattooed trader, and Gisborne’s first mayor, photographer and brewer William Crawford – whose collection was recently added to the Unesco Memory of the World register.

The free Taruheru tours start from the Centre for Heritage, the former Plunket Society building at 173 Palmerston Rd, at 11am on the last Saturday of every month.

On summer Saturdays between 10.30am-2.30pm, the centre is home to two photographic exhibitions – one of historical photographs related to the Taruheru River and another of selected contemporary images from adult and school-age entrants in its recent Tairāwhiti Rivers competition.

A map showing Tapuwae Tairāwhiti Trails Trust’s proposed shared path from Derby St to Campion College is also available for viewing.

For further info, email info@ht.org.nz.